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Athlante Castle
Built by order of King Nohansen II as a home and centre of government for the leader of the new principality (and his family). The central structure was a solitary one, embellished by parapets and a ringed wall. Called the Rathiv, or the Strong Hold, shortened to Stronghold. Renovated by Ambrai IV, he had these structures removed and massively extended the original building, adding the dome that can be seen today on top of the Rathiv. He also added the Rabikor, the royal library, partially due to the request of Princess Miryen. The familial wing of the new palace was removed from the Stronghold to the left wing of the palace, with guest rooms, offices of state, kitchens and the like located on the west wing. Due to the slope of the hill on which the palace is built, the familial wing comprises five floors, instead of the three to four that the rest of the palace contains. This is an advantage of security in that it is very difficult to attack that side of the palace. Walls within the Stronghold were knocked down to make way for three new rooms - the main entrance, a small chamber that leads to the Kenida, or Greeting Hall. This long hallway is adorned with the heraldric shields of past ruling princes and princesses, from Ambrai I to Ambrai X. Both the walls and floor are made of Hylian wood. The hall splits two ways - one to the left wing, and the other to the right. In between these are the massive doors that open up to the Great Hall, used for state occasions, royal visits or banquets hosted by the royal family. The hall is very large and takes up nearly all of what was originally Stronghold. The ceiling, in parts, alternates blue and transparent glass, which allows the light of day into the palace, and at night, the stars of the night sky can be seen. At the furthest end of the hall is a staircase of immense proportions. A visitor once noted that he had never seen so much stone in his life. The staircase leads to the second and third floors on either side of the palace, and is used by the royal family when their entrance into the hall is announced. The royal apartments are on the south side of the complex, at the rear, where they are out of sight of the public. This connected yet separate section is called the Athri. When built, it set a record for the number of bedrooms in a palace, but unlike Reiza, it has no apartments built specifically for visiting members of the Hylian royal family. Instead, a series of rooms in the main building, very close to the Athri, were chosen for this purpose. During the Karma War, Ossetia was hit by a series of nuclear missiles, against which it had no defence. Feruche was one of the cities hit, and the castle suffered considerable damage structurally, with nearly all of the windows on the front of the building shattered, and many of the columns of the portico were damaged beyond repair. While after a few months much of the repairs were done, and several columns of the portico replaced, it took a further two years of careful work to repair the structural damage - the supports on the south side of the building being very fragile. After all the repairs were completed, the chief engineer assigned to the project estimated that the castle was now structurally stronger than before. Images of Athlante Castle - , one of many such items in the Azh'Eltan, otherwise known as the Dragon Crypt]] Category:Castles